The Sun pens press ad for Argentina to say 'hands off the Falklands'

The Sun has taken out a full-page ad in the Buenos Aires Herald to respond to the open letter to David Cameron from Argentinian president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner which appeared in British national newspapers yesterday.

In the ad The Sun disputes de Kirchner’s claim that Argentina was "stripped" of the Falkland Islands on 3 January 180 years ago and said "no civilian population was ever expelled".

Moreover, the Sun’s ad, which includes the text in Spanish and English, said: "British Sovereignty over the Falkland Islands dates back to 1765, before the Republic of Argentina even existed."

The Sun ad ended with the words: "In the name of our millions of readers, and to put it another way: ‘Hands Off!’"

The ad was designed by The Sun’s in-house creative department and booked on page 5 of the Buenos Aires Herald, which is understood to be read by 50,000 people a day, by The Sun directly.

In response to the Argentinian ad a spokesman for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said: "The people of the Falklands are British and have chosen to be so. They remain free to choose their own futures, both politically and economically, and have a right to self-determination."

Tensions between the two countries on the issue of the Falkland Islands have mounted over the last 12 months and de Kirchner even summoned the British ambassador just before Christmas.

The British ambassador to Argentina was called to see the president after the Coalition Government renamed a part of a territory in Antarctica that Argentina has also claimed for its own, Queen Elizabeth Land.